


Cruel And Unusual

by ImaKaraTabiHe



Series: Speedster Family [28]
Category: Justice League - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Aggravation, Angst and Humor, Barry and Wally really love their sweets, Challenges, Chocolate & Sweets Addiction, Denial, Dessert & Sweets, Diet, Eating, F/M, Happy Ending, irritation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 00:25:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9296138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaKaraTabiHe/pseuds/ImaKaraTabiHe
Summary: It's hard for anyone who loves sweets to resist them, but Wally and Barry do their best when challenged.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheOneTrueGeek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOneTrueGeek/gifts).



> Thanks to Nixie for all her help!

Wally smiled, licking his lips as the taste of chocolate echoed in his mouth. The wrapper crinkled as he balled it up with his hands. His uncle moaned with joy as he popped in another chocolate.

“Uncle B!” he called.

Barry looked over at his nephew, chocolate melting in his mouth.

“Toss me a chocolate orange truffle!” Wally shifted back, opening his mouth. “Lay one on me!”

Grinning at the sight of his nephew, Barry opened a truffle, ignoring the way the wrapper fell to the ground to join a growing mound of other empty wrappers. “Make sure you catch it.” Barry flicked his wrist making the chocolate sail through the air.

Wally eyed it, determined until he shifted just right and... it plopped straight into his mouth. “Ooh 'a!” he celebrated, swirling the chocolate in his mouth with his tongue. His body trembled slightly with happiness as sugary goodness ran down his throat.

Barry and Wally high-fived with matching grins, “Awesome, kid!” They smiled at each other and popped some more chocolates into their mouths as the lounged on the couch, TV echoing in the background.

“Bartholomew Allen! Wallace West!” A voice snapped.

They fell over each other, Wally's elbow hitting Barry's side as they quickly fought to right themselves. “Iris!” Barry swallowed, nervous as he looked up at his wife, trying to ignore the pain where Wally had elbowed him.

“Welcome home?”

Iris glared at Barry. “'Welcome home'?” she repeated, with disbelief. “That's all you have to say for yourselves?”

Barry and Wally exchanged concerned glances. “Um… No?” Wally tried, stuttering a little at the end.

His aunt narrowed her eyes at him next and he sheepishly made himself look smaller. Barry was at a loss beside Wally, but his nephew had the right idea. Not that Barry could look as small and adorable as his nephew, but he sure tried.

Iris just raised an eyebrow at her husband trying to copy her nephew. It was a cute sight, but she wasn't about to take it easy on them. “Now, you two have more than made a mess of this living room.”

She wasn't kidding. It was littered with wrappers, even empty chocolate boxes. How she envied their metabolism. If she could, she'd eat just as much as they did. A box teetering on the arm rest fell onto the floor with an empty clank. Her nose crinkled. 'On second thought, there's eating nicely, and then there's eating too much.'

Eyes more closely inspecting the boxes, she realized they were all empty, and she stared at her Speedster husband and nephew in shock. “Did you eat _all_ of the chocolates you both got for Christmas!?”

“Of course not, Iris,” Barry tried, pulling out a half empty box. “We haven't finished these yet.”

He and Wally shivered with fear when she glared daggers at them. “That was supposed to be  _my_ box, Barry.” She sighed, frustrated. “Honestly, it hasn't even been a month yet and Snart went through a lot of trouble to obtain 20lbs worth of chocolate for the both of you. I can't believe it's practically all gone.” She ran her fingers through her hair with a huff.

“So... we should get more?” Barry tentatively suggested.

Iris' eyes flashed. “ No! You shouldn't get more. In fact, you should have less.” Her lips curled with a sudden thought. “Actually, we're going to have a no sweets week, and by 'we', I mean you two.”

Wally and Barry stared at Iris, blinking dumbly, as if they couldn't understand what she was saying. She rolled her eyes.

Sighing, she stomped into the kitchen, leaving her two beloved family members to get with the picture. Returning, she shoved a box into Barry's hands. “Here. No sweets, desserts, chocolates, or candies for either of you for the rest of this week. You may have this,” she nodded at the box, “but nothing else.”

“But-”

“No, 'buts' Barry Allen, or else you'll be spending the rest of this month on the couch.” Barry's jaws snapped shut.

“Isn't this... a little extreme?” Wally questioned, timidly.

“Perhaps,” Iris admitted, “but it's for your own good. Too many sweets isn't good for anyone, even a Speedster. You both need to eat more healthy foods and less sugar.” She eyed the messy floor and couch. “And we can't afford to eat like this all the time.”

Noticing her nephew's flushed cheeks and shame filled face, her eyes softened. “Just try it okay? One week, that's all I'm asking.”

Barry nudged Wally gently, getting him to look at him. “We can do it, right Wally?”

Wally looked at his aunt, hesitantly. She leaned forward and pecked his forehead, apologetic for frightening him. When she gave him a gentle, forgiving smile, he looked over at his uncle, skeptically raising an eyebrow. “I guess we can try.”

“That's all I ask,” Iris said, kissing her husband lightly on the lips. “Now go clean up this mess, Barry,” she told him. “Oh, and order some pizza.” Barry raised an eyebrow, looking at her with judgment as he started to clean up the wrappers, leaving her to slip into his place and snuggle her nephew. “What? It's not like I want to cook tonight, and it's not dessert.”

“Sure, Iris, sure,” Barry pecked her cheek with a fond, smile.

Bagful of empty wrappers and boxes, he squeezed Wally's shoulder. “It won't be so bad, Wally.” Wally didn't look as confident as Barry felt about it, but he smiled back anyways.

Wally was sure this was going to suck. His eyes wandered to the calender. 'Wednesday... Only four more days until Monday…' Internally, he groaned.

  


Thursday.

The day went by fast, all things considering. Barry had the day off from the League, because he was so damned busy with work in the labs. Some new CSI assistant had screwed things up and now Barry had to fix it. Story of his life was that it was on a Rogues case.

Wally was also busy that day. School was a nightmare between trying to prepare for a science project and writing an English report.. Things went okay, although he cringed as he bit into a celery stick for a snack. He missed his Raisinets...

Friday.

  


The day was alright for them both. They had a bit more free time to whimper over the loss of their desserts and sweets. It was harder to resist when they had coffee and tea at Jitters, at least for Barry. For someone who loved sweet coffee, he was hating it. At least Wally was okay with black tea and cream without sugar since it's what he typically liked.

“How about some dessert?” the barista asked politely.

The call of those fresh pastries and scones was almost too hard to pass up after a long day of work and school. “No, thanks,” Barry gave her a tight lipped smile as he set the money in her hand. She looked utterly confused as to why Barry and Wally looked so tortured, but decided it was best not to ask.

“Just three more days,” Barry muttered as he sipped his bitter coffee. Wally nodded with a look of longing at the pastries.

Three more days... Wally could do that, couldn't he?

Barry hugged Wally before they broke up, Barry to go to the Watchtower and Wally, to Mt. Justice for training.

Wally took a breath and walked into Mt. Justice, energy buzzing like static. “Hey, guys!” he called, plastering a cheerful smile on his face. If he could ignore the fact that he can't have sweets, he'd be fine. He walked into the kitchen, following chatter.

“What's...up..” Wally froze, staring at the scene in front of him. Cookies lined the counters, boxes of pastries and donuts were piled on the table. The smell made his heart stutter in his chest.

“Hey, Walls,” Robin called, eying a maple glazed donut as the rest of the team helped themselves to the treats. “Look what Artemis and M'gann made!”

Wally nodded, biting the inside of his mouth as he smiled a little. “Cool, so.. they made the cookies, right? What's with the donuts and pastries?” His nose wrinkled, trying to make the delicious scent of sweets go away.

“Ehh..” Robin shrugged, licking his lips of frosting. “I thought we could use something to kick start us before training.”

Wally looked at Robin, deadpanning, “How kind of you.” He hated everything right now.

“Got your favorite chocolate sprinkle and plain sugar over there,” Robin gestured, trying to lean in to M'gann and Artemis to listen to their baking plans in the future so maybe he could have a failsafe. Conner and Kaldur seemed less interested in the desserts, but were still politely eating some.

He could already see the logo..  _Krispy Kreme.._ 'Abort! Abort! Abandon Kitchen!' a voice seemed to scream in Wally's head, while his hand slowly moved towards the boxes of donuts. Wally was just about to open a box when he remembered his aunt telling him that they should be more healthy, and he remembered the way his uncle was doing his best. He  _really_ wanted to make it to Monday…

“I so hate everything right now,” Wally growled, throwing his hands in the air with frustration before he sped out. He sat in the training room, waiting for Black Canary to get there. He really needed to let out some of this annoyance. Faintly, he wondered how his uncle was doing..

  


Barry was officially done. So what if he was a few minutes late to the meeting? It's not like he was having fun cutting up carrots and getting some ranch for his snack. And then Hal  _snickers_ at him? He slapped Hal's hand when the glow stick tried to steal a carrot. “Don't you dare,” he hissed, eyes flaming. 

The rest of the League blinked at Barry, astonished. They knew he was protective of his food, but  _carrots?_ It wasn't exactly Barry's choice of snack, nor was it something he had trouble sharing. “Are you alright, Flash?” J'onn asked.

Barry eyed the  Martian for a moment. “Peachy,” he huffed, stuffing another ranch covered carrot in his face.

“Do you really need to...” Superman shut up when Flash's eyes narrowed at him.

No one else tried to get Barry to talk, even if they glared at him as he crunched his way through the carrots. It seemed like a bad idea to try and take the food away, plus.. Light-hearted Flash being growly seemed more like a Batman thing. Obviously, there was something wrong.

“Good, all done,” Barry stood as soon as the meeting came to a close.

“Flash,” Batman started to say, voice low.

“See you in the cafeteria!” Barry ignored Batman, running to the cafeteria. Carrots were nowhere near filling.

Barry sat at a table alone, surrounded by plates of food. Batman sat down in front of him. “Everything okay, Flash?”

Looking up from his food, Barry sighed. “Yeah, Bats. It's fine. I'm just hungry.” Batman didn't look like he believed him, or that could've just been his usual face, but sometimes it was hard to tell.

Instead of arguing, Batman got up and got a whole pizza from the cafeteria. “Eat,” he simply ordered. “Try not to bite anymore heads off. We can't afford to keep recruiting new members.”

Barry huffed but did as Batman ordered, shoveling his face and glaring at the dessert bar as if he could make it disappear by merely staring at it with anger.

  


Saturday.

Wally spent his Saturday at Mt. Justice, flashing to the kitchen every time he needed something, but never staying in there for too long. The longer he was in that room with all the leftover treats, the more likely he was to break his promise to not eat sugary foods.

“Are you sure you don't want the rest of the donuts?” Kaldur politely questioned.

“No,” Wally responded, not even looking at the Atlantean who held boxes of pastries and donuts in his hands.

“Seriously? Kid Mouth's saying no?” Artemis snorted.

Wally hissed at her, “I'm saying I have enough food. I don't need any of that shit.”

M'gann gasped at Wally's visible anger and Robin raised a concerned eyebrow. “Wally!”

Forcing back his agitation, he made himself smile. “Sorry, I just have enough on my hands. You're welcome to eat it, Kaldur.”

Slowly nodding, Kaldur took the boxes back into the kitchen, leaving the rest of the team to stare at Wally and wonder what was wrong. He ignored them as he scarfed down his veggie sandwich (they were out of lunch-meat).

  


Barry was ready to blow his top. Every time he saw someone snacking on cookies or a treat, he wanted to punch them. He knew people were starting to notice and word was getting around to stay out of his way, because other heroes would just take a few steps back as he passed. He wanted to yell at them and ask them what right they had. He wasn't sure if it was the right to eat sweets or the right to assume, but still, the irritation was sour on his tongue.

Things were getting a little... dicey. Even Barry knew that he was really starting to hate this no sweets thing, especially when he ended up calling Batman a 'know-it-all-shadow-stalker'.

..He was so going to be paying for that.

“Finally!” Barry's arms went in the air before he raced to the zeta-beams. His duty for the day was done. All he wanted to do was go home, cuddle his wife, and scowl at her when he ended up drinking that disgusting Chocolate Tea. He had given in. It wasn't sweet. The world was so wrong.

Wally didn't look much better that night at dinner, both looking irritated, but they let those feelings simmer as Iris set out some of her most delicious cooking. “You're both doing great,” Iris said, smiling at them with pride.

She wasn't blind to the irritation that they'd both been feeling. It made her feel a little bit guilty for asking such a thing of them, especially when she knew that Speedster time was a bit... different, but when she'd offered to rescind the challenge, they'd both refused, determined to see it out 'til the end.

Despite insisting that it'd be okay if they had some, they were both set on “winning” as they'd called it. “We're going to beat this,” Barry had stated, cracking his knuckles as if he were physically about to fight and win over the desire to eat sweets.

Iris frowned a little, worried, but she'd let them go for now. She knew how focused they could be when they were running towards a goal. Still, she wasn't going to let anything hurt them. She'd be there to stop them from blowing up if it came to it.

  


Sunday – the final day.

Barry was sitting stiffly with his nephew on the couch, watching some old re-runs. Batman had called and told them both to take off for now. Barry can't imagine why, but a short vacation was still a vacation. Now if only both of them could make it tomorrow already…

“ _We interrupt this program to bring you a special report. The Rogues are at it again. This time at the Western Mall..”_

Wally groaned, feeling the desire to hit his head on the wall. Repeatedly. “Do we have to go, Uncle Barry?” Irritation had faded into weariness and impatient longing – if that wasn't a combination.

His uncle sighed and stood up. “Come on, Kid. At least it'll kill time.”

A short time later, they were standing in front of a half frozen food court. “Baby Flash!” Trickster squealed happily.

“Flash,” Captain Cold said, nodding his greeting.

Flash and Kid Flash just sighed. “Cold, Rogues. Can't we all simply agree to let this be?” Flash questioned, hopefully.

Cold raised an eyebrow. The duo were slow, movements stiff. “We're not buddy buddy, Scarlet. We're on the opposite sides of the law. Now if you want to just leave us here with all this, then be my guest, run along.”

The Rogue leader found the two Speedsters zeroed in on an ice cream stand, faces blank. They were clearly not even listening to him. “Flash?” No response. “Kid?” Again, nothing.

Trickster giggled as none of the heroes even blinked. 'Rude,' Cold thought.

“Oi!” Boomerang yelled, startling the heroes back into reality. They stared, confused as to why they were being yelled at.

“What?” Kid Flash dumbly questioned.

“I was talking to you,” Cold drawled, annoyed.

Flash and Kid Flash at least had the decency to look apologetic. “Sorry, Cold,” Flash started. “We're not feeling too hot.”

Cold raised an eyebrow, pushing down the concern that he knew was rising in his Rogues as well. “Ya sick?”

“No,” Kid Flash replied. “We're just...really, really wanting something sweet.”

The Rogues started at the two heroes. Like... 'Are they hungry?' But they didn't appear to be hungry. There were no terrifying sounds of stomach growls.

“Are you stupid?” Heatwave finally said. “If you're hungry, then eat.”

Kid Flash kicked an ice cube. “Actually, we're em...” He blushed under his cowl. “..on a diet.”

The Rogues couldn't believe their ears. “What the fuck,” Pied Piper blurted out. Those two were the last people on Earth that needed to diet.

Flash cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. “It's not a diet-diet, really. It's just...we've been restricted from sweets after we ate all the chocolates you guys gave us for Christmas.”

Cold stared at them for a little while before he burst out laughing, the other Rogues doing the same. Flash and Kid Flash glared at them, tapping their feet on the ground with superspeed. “You – just – Are you serious!?” Cold took a deep breath.

“That's cruel and unusual...” Trickster piped up.

“It's not funny,” Flash snapped at them. Kid Flash nodded alongside Flash, eyes narrowed at the thieves.

“I can't believe you ate all that so fast,” Mirror Master muttered under his breath. Cold could, actually.

“Yeah... well… Screw you,” Flash growled.

'That's not good..' Cold could tell that the two Speedsters were aggravated, on the verge of exploding if they prodded any sooner. It would be best to wait until they were back to normal before the Rogues faced the two again. If they weren't careful someone was going to get hurt.

“Sam,” Cold ordered, “window. We're leaving.”

Some of the Rogues complained, questioned it, but Cold wouldn't have it. “You want to face some sugar hungry Speedsters? Feel free to stay, but I think I'd like to try when they don't want to bite everyone's heads off.” It was easier for the Rogues to quietly slip away after that.

Captain Cold looked the two Speedsters over before he stepped into the mirror and said, “Get some sugar, before you bite off the wrong head or get yourselves into trouble.”

He was gone before Flash could say that it was probably a bit late for that, but that was fine. At least they'd killed an hour or so. Now they were going to go home and wait for tomorrow.. Just a little bit longer..

 

Wally sat on the couch, staring at the clock as it ticked. 11:59pm. He was shamefully anxious to eat desserts again. Life just wasn't the same without those little indulgences that made him smile.

  


12AM – Monday

Wally heard Barry whoop for joy in the other room. He grinned, similarly. They'd won. They made it.

“Wally? Barry? Can you come here?” his aunt called from the kitchen.

Confused as to why she was in the kitchen so late, they both flashed into the kitchen. Their hearts melted at the sight that met their eyes. Cookies, donuts, cakes, ice cream… It was all lined up on the counter and table. One looked suspiciously already dug into.

Iris blushed. “I figured that I might give you a reward for doing so well. You both were stubbornly incredible. I'm proud of you both.” She didn't need to say anything more before Barry and Wally were stuffing their faces with all the different kinds of desserts.

“But maybe let's not do this again,” Iris muttered under her breath, thinking of how many complaints she'd gotten. Batman himself had shown up and questioned her about Wally and Barry's behavior and telling her what was going on. She cringed to think of everyone who'd gotten snapped at. “No, never again.”

“Hey, Uncle B, do we have any whipped cream?” Wally asked, chocolate smeared on his chin.

“Hmm...” Barry pulled out a can of spray cream. “Knock yourself out. Oh, but add some on my cookie, would you?”

Iris smiled as she watched them make a mess of themselves. At least, their eyes looked brighter. Faces, not so dim and lifeless. This would be a lesson no one would forget. She was proud of them, but she and many others were glad it was over. “There's pie in the oven,” she mentioned, chuckling as she saw their eyes widen and the way they both dived for the oven.

Well, those were her two Speedsters, and she wouldn't change them for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew. I'm not sure this is what you had in mind when I mentioned Speedster Fam and chocolate, TheOneTrueGeek, but maybe it works? Haha~
> 
> Hope everyone's week is going good so far. Just a few more days and then it'll be Friday~ :) Yay~  
> Hoping to have another Speedster Fam fic out by Friday maybe.
> 
> Thank you~ Hope you enjoyed~  
> tumblr: tabihe


End file.
